Paris - Day 1 (a very long day)

Me standing on the road which our hotel is on.

I'm typing this using the computer in the hotel lobby and it's rather challenging because some of the keys are not in the standard set up. Right now, it's 10pm, Monday, here in Paris, and around 5am, Tuesday, in Singapore. My body clock is messed up after travelling for 21 hours (including 3 hours of transition time in Doha). Sleep quality in the plane was terrible and it was so exhausting just siting there and rotting away. I think my stomach must have been rather confused too because I ate breakfast twice on the 2 plane rides.

Seine River

Here's a brief introduction on the geography of Paris. It is basically divided into 2 sides, the North (Right bank) and the South (Left bank). The Seine River is the dividing line. There are quite a number of bridges that connect both sides of Paris, and each one has a unique history. I'm staying at a hotel near the river, in downtown Paris.

The Metro. There are 2 interesting things about it. First, you have to push a button to open the door yourself. Second, most city trains are double-decker.

After checking in, we took some time exploring the Metro (their train system) before taking a train to a place not too far away. There, we took a cruise that took us along the river. It was already rather dark by 6pm, so we were able to take a look at the light ups along the river. The buildings in Paris are generally old-fashioned but most are very grand. At night, the lightings are quite nice. It was cold on board the cruise but it was worth the sights.

The wine

Today was also a significant day because I was able to drink my first legal glass of wine. In France, anyone at least 16 years old can consume wine, and those younger than that can do so under adult supervision. While we were having dinner, we discovered that wine cost as much as a bottle of coke, so we went for wine. It's also one of the rare things that are cheaper here than in Singapore. Ah well, I'll have a few more days to appreciate the joy of drinking wine before I return and have to wait a few years more.

Dad posing with a 5kg bottle of Nutella in a supermarket

After dinner, we walked around and tried French snacks like Crepes and something called Choros, both of which are very nice. Oh and I think Nutella is produced in France, because I saw extremely large jars (whatever they usually store it in) of Nutella in those shops\stalls selling Crepes. Crepes also seem to be a very important snack in Paris, because there are whole restaurants dedicated to serving Crepes.

The weather is cold, wet and windy, making it even colder than it should be.